Stock, Broth & Bowl

A nice book about 104 pages. I like most of the recipes and felt it was user friendly.

I really enjoyed this. I've been presented with much compelling evidence in recent weeks regarding the benefits of bone broth so this book came into my possession at a rather apt time. The book itself is visually pleasing and in an easy-to-read format. I've tried a couple of the recipes and can tell you that the chicken broth recipe is particularly delightful.

I love making stocks from left-over bones from our Sunday roasts, and we have a freezer full of them. But have got rather stuck in my ways as regards the stock recipe, and looked to this book to provide me with some new ideas for stocks, and for recipes in which to use them - which it duly did. This book is not really for vegetarians, though there are two vegan stocks and a couple of vegetarian meals. The Roots Stock looked interesting, but really I would have probably cooked the vegetables in the oven as in the recipe – and then eaten them - rather than going through the process of making a vegetable stock. The book is first and foremost for the unreconstructed carnivore. Even the seafood stew has bacon in it. The stock that really won me over was the “Bone Broth”, which was cooked in a slow cooker for 24 hours. What a brilliant idea! And cheap! A number of free beef bones from the butcher, stick them in the slow cooker with water and walk away. We woke up the next morning to a divine smell in the kitchen – added the vegetables and herbs, sat back and savoured the aroma until the 24 hours were up, and we had a gorgeous beef stock. Unfortunately, I then decided to clarify the stock. Big mistake! I obviously did not follow the instructions correctly, as I ended up with a cloudy beef and egg-white mess, and spent hours sieving and lost a lot of my perfect stock. My advice on clarifying is – don’t! Still, there was enough remaining to make the French Onion soup. The recipe called for the “Carnivore Stock” (much more involved and more expensive to make than the Bone Broth), but it did work well with the remaining Bone Broth. My second stock was the Lemongrass Chicken Stock. We had had a roast guinea fowl the night before, so I used the bones from that instead of the chicken carcass, but then followed the rest of the recipe with the chicken wings etc. Again, a lovely stock. Some went into the freezer, and the rest was used to make a risotto (not the recipe in the book) with the left-over guinea fowl meat.
Finally, I made the “Shrimp and Fine Herb Stock”, followed by the “Seafood Stew”. The stock smells great, and is a gorgeous pink colour. The stew was thick and very tasty – I will definitely be making that again.
The stock recipes are easy to follow, and of varying complexity and cost. All measurements are American, but there is a conversion chart at the back of the book. I was not overly enamoured with the accompanying meal recipes. Some, like the French Onion soup and the seafood stew were very good, but a lot involved ingredients that are difficult to source or are costly to a British audience. Still, the recipes give a very good general idea as to how the various stocks can be used. The author’s intention is that they be used as “suggestions, not gospel”, and as such they are a success. Likewise, I was not too keen on the broth cocktail ideas, but I may come around. There are still more stock recipes here that I would love to try, and the ideas for cups of broth look really intriguing. All in all, this is a well conceived recipe book. Everyone who loves good food should be making and using stocks, and this book is an excellent guide on how to get started, and how to continue.

Stock, Broth and Bowl from Jonathan Bender is deceptive in that the title suggests it is only a cookbook about broths and soups but in reality, Bender offers up so much more. Roasts and ethnic foods and broth inspired cocktails. Inventive and delicious. These are recipes you are sure to try and try again!

I loved this wonderful book with enough recipes and information that will provide hot meals through the winter.

Beautiful photography, interesting text and delicious recipes makes this a must get cookbook in my opinion When raw food is making such a huge impact on the health food side and on the other side ready meals are ever present- Stock, Broth & Bowl shows an interesting and tasty alternative!
The recipes are easy to follow and I think everybody should have a copy because there is unimaginable value in slow cooked meals!
Simply love it!